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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Friday, May 8, 2015

The Hortlandia Quilt Challenge

In yesterday's post, I neglected to mention that there are also lots of garden art vendors at Hortlandia. One more reason to attend this great sale. Sorry I didn't take any photographs of those offerings although I did show a few of them in last year's post here. This year, the folks at the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon, the sponsors of the sale, decided to add another interesting facet to the gem that is Hortlandia, a quilt challenge.

All entries had to relate to the theme "In the Northwest Garden." For a full list of rules, click here.

Sincere apologies to the quilters for the poor quality of the pictures. I took them in haste and wasn't thinking of posting them but the pieces are so lovely and relate well to different aspects of gardening that I changed my mind.

I know nothing about quilting but greatly admire the talent of those who can make them and the beautiful products they produce. My eldest sister and her daughter are avid quilters and I'm lucky enough to posses some of their work.

In the same way that some gardeners hoard plants, (not that we know any people like that right?) some quilters hoard fabric. (Just saying is all. No, we will not talk about my glass stash!)

It's quite understandable as fabric is beautiful stuff, is much less dense than glass therefore easier to store. In addition, fabric requires no watering, potting up, pruning, et cetera.

Hortlandia attendees got to vote on their favorite quilt.

A difficult choice as each of the entries was beautiful in a different way.

This one gets extra points for including the botanical name of the plant!

I ended up not voting as, loving them all, I couldn't choose a favorite.

How about you, do you have a favorite of these entries and what makes it your choice?

All very beautiful! I didn't even take time at the sale to check these out, so I appreciate you changing your mind and deciding to post your photos. I like that first one, with the mountain in it (although since it was Portland it's probably meant to be Mt. Hood.) I also like the iris, third up from the bottom.

I've got the hoarding fabric part down, but any time that might be spent doing something with it gets sucked up with gardening instead. like Alison, I'm partial to the Iris, because of the subject matter and because it uses old timey techniques in a modern way.

Sheesh. No wonder you declined voting; there are all so different and beautiful in their own way. I love #1 for it's wonderful PNW detail, but I love #3 best, for it's abstract style. I have an affinity to Japanese art, so #4 speaks to me as well. Lastly, the beautiful execution of the Arisaema steals my gardner's heart. (I guess I can't pick just one either...)

They all show a lot of talent, but my favorites are the arisaem and the lily. I like the simplicity and realism.The arisaema does get bonus points for the botanical name, too. I really like the mountain in the first one, too.

Wow, what gorgeous quilts!!! I love the Japanese girl one and the fairy one, though there are so many pretty quilts there! My mother is an avid quilter, and, yes, she has a whole room full of fabric :)

How beautiful these are ! I would never have the patience to do something like this (though some might say staring at dirt waiting for something to happen requires patience too) not to mention the imagination and manual dexterity ! Thanks for changing your mind !

I took my husband who is not a plant person and felt rushed so didn't look at the quilts, so I'm glad you posted them. I like #3 with it's many colors and shadings, the lily with the black background and shiny ribbons, the soporific Arisaema- maybe it would help my insomnia, the swirling patterns in the iris background, and the fairy with the animals tucked into the pretty irises, but they are all great.

About Me

Why Outlaw Gardener? I like to break the rules of good taste, plant placement, and plant hardiness. Also, I have received periodic "love notes" from the city code enforcement officer telling me that my parking strip plants encroach on the city's right-of-way. When expressing my distress over the latest such notice, I exclaimed to my pal Loree (Danger Garden) "I'm an outlaw gardener!" To which she replied,"That would be a good name for a blog."
My first gardens were in Southeast Alaska (zone 3.)I do miss the beauty and community of small-town Alaska but I don't take for granted for a moment how wonderful it is to garden in zone 8.